“Rere”: reduplicated relations

First published 8 February 2016 @ sólo algunas palabras

In Mandarin Chinese, reduplication is a very common feature. Its function is to create an informal, less direct or more cute version of a word with the same meaning. For example, 謝謝 xièxie, “thanks”, is a reduplicated 謝 xiè. However, when it comes to naming your relations, it could well be that these apparently reduplicated words came first and then got shortened, just like English “ma” and “pa” are short versions of “mama” and “papa”.

Now mama, papa, baba, dada etc. are babble words, something that babies all over the world tend to produce without thinking about their parents and other relatives. (How on earth Finns got to use äiti and isä, is anyone’s guess. Here’s my own guess: Finnish is derived from Elvish, not the other way round, and elvish babies never babble.) What I find interesting about Mandarin is that there are different babble words for different kinds of brothers, sisters, uncles and grandparents. Which is logical, if you think of it. For example, an older brother and a younger brother often have nothing in common. Calling them simply “brothers” is just silly.

Han characters		Pinyin	Meaning	Etymology
trad.	爸爸	bàba	dad, papa	From 爸 “dad” formed by reduplication
simpl.
trad.	媽媽	māma	mom, mum, mama	From 媽 “mum”
simpl.	妈妈
trad.	哥哥	gēge	older brother	From 哥 ‎“elder brother”
simpl.
trad.	弟弟	dìdi	younger brother	From 弟 “younger brother”
simpl.
trad.	姐姐	jiějie	older sister	From 姐 “elder sister, young lady”
simpl.
trad.	妹妹	mèimei	younger sister	From 妹 “younger sister”
simpl.
trad.	舅舅	jiùjiu	mother’s brother, uncle	From 舅 “mother’s brother, uncle”
simpl.
trad.	叔叔	shūshu	father’s younger brother, uncle	From 叔 “father’s younger brother, uncle”
simpl.
trad.	奶奶	nǎinai	paternal grandmother, gramma, granny	From 奶 “milk; woman’s breasts”
simpl.
trad.	爺爺	yéye	father’s father, paternal grandfather, granddad	From 爺 “father, grandfather”
simpl.	爷爷
trad.	寶寶	bǎobǎo	baby	From 寶 “treasure, precious”
simpl.	宝宝